A Short History of Paul Robeson
In 1915, Paul Robeson won an academic scholarship to Rudgers University. There, despite racism and occasional violence from his teammates, he played football and was named All-American and became the valedictorian for his class. His classmates even went so far as to prophesize that he would be "the leader of the colored race in America." Even with the recognition of his class and in light of his future achievements, he would still not be recognized by the school's Hall of Fame until 1995, almost 20 years after his death. After Rudgers, he was accepted to Columbia Law School where he met his wife, Eslanda (who would later become the first Black woman in this country to head a pathology department). After graduation, he went to work for a New York law firm. He was only working there a short time when a stenographer refused to take down a memo, saying "I never take dictation from a nigger." Sensing that this remark as indicative of the climate he would face practicing law in America, Robeson left the bar. After his short legal career ended, his wife encouraged him to act in amateur theatre. He soon joined a group called the Provincetown Players, which was associated with the radical playwright Eugene O'Neill. He acted in 2 major plays that brought him national recognition, The Emperor Jones and All God's Chillun Got Wings. Before long he was playing in theatres in Europe, which increased his popularity around the world. In the coming years he would perform his most well known roles in Shakespeare's Othello and Show Boat (where he sang his classic version of Old Man River). He also acted in several films but came to the conclusion that his career as an actor was limited as a Black man in America to small, often demeaning roles. With this realization, Paul Robeson started to focus much more of his social convictions and artistic energy on singing full time. Robeson had been singing most of his life, but it wasn't until he went to Great Britain that his singing career became a moral cause. He said that in England he saw that the character of a nation was determined by the common people and not the upper classes. He learned 20 languages in an attempt to help break down ethnic barriers and sing traditional folk songs in their native tongue. He traveled around the world and became friends with Emma Goldman, Jomo Kenyatta, Nehru of India, Ernest Hemingway, James Joyce, and the NAACP founder W.E.B. Du Bois. In 1933, Robeson donated the entire proceeds of All God's Chillun to Jewish children who were fleeing Hitler's Germany. During the Spanish Civil War, Robeson was a staunch supporter of the anti-fascist cause, even going so far as to travel there to perform for the international troops (including the Abraham Lincoln Brigade which was made up for American anarchists, communists, and union men) fighting for a free Spain. In 1939, he was awarded the Badge of Veterans of the Abraham Lincoln Brigade for his service. It was also around the same time that Robeson traveled to the Soviet Union for the first time and became a very vocal supporter of the Russian people and their government. His time in Russia was spent going to the theatre, taking long walks with the Soviet director Segei Eisenstein, eating at large banquets, etc. The Russian people loved Paul Robeson and he loved them back. He was particularly excited that he had discovered a country that was "entirely free of racial prejudice," as he later wrote. "Here, for the first time in my life, I walk in full human dignity." Of course, this was also the time of Joseph Stalin’s greatest purges. But few people (including many Russians) knew exactly what Stalin was doing to the people and the revolution. The USSR was far from a utopia in the late 1930’s, but dignitaries seldom got to see the gulags or the other seedy side of a government on an official visit. As a result, his pro-soviet sentiments were shared by many prominent Blacks of the time including W.E.B. Du Bois and Langston Hughes. During the war years, Robeson continued to perform and speak out against racism and in support of labor and for peace. He refused to sing in front of segregated audiences and would not hesitate to pick up a picket sign and march for labor or civil rights when the time arose. After the war, he tirelessly worked for social justice. He picketed the White House on several occasions and headed an organization that challenged Harry Truman to support an anti-lynching law. In the late 1940's, at a time when dissent was scarcely tolerated in the US (like right now), Robeson openly questioned why Blacks should fight in the army of a government that tolerated racism. As “punishment” for making these statements, he was forced to appear in front of the House Un-American Activities Commission. He saw this as an attack on the democratic rights of all people, which it was. He was not an official member of the Communist Party, but he certainly was a vocal supporter. This should also be examined with the times in that the Communist Party in America were one of the few groups in the country that supported equality amongst the races, fought for labor tirelessly, fought in Spain, and took up many unpopular causes, like the trial of the Scottsboro Boys. They were also perceived by many blacks and whites as the best hope for the revolution in America. They were not the Stalins and Maos that Communists are portrayed as today, but were the rank and file, the dock workers, the truck drivers, the miners, the writers, the professional intellectuals and the union men and women, and, of course, the entertainers. Then at an international peace conference in Paris in 1949, Paul Robeson made a statement that was misquoted in the American press as saying that no Black would ever take up arms against Russia. This caused an uproar across the nation which culminated in a terrible riot in Peekskill, New York where Paul Robeson was performing 2 interracial outdoor which were attacked by white mobs as the NY state police stood by (of course). Robeson decided to still play the concerts, even with threats of violence by members of Ku Klux Klan and the American Legion and was protected from the angry racists by rows of union men acting as body guards. He responded to the angry taunts by saying, "I'm going to sing wherever the people want me to sing and I won't be frightened by crosses burning in Peekskill or anywhere." Soon after, he was called again to testify in front of McCarthy's lackeys in HUAC. Robeson never had a desire to leave the US, only make it stronger and help change the racist attitudes of its people. He testified to this during the hearings when he was asked by the congressional committee about his past statements, and especially his friendly attitude towards the Soviet Union. One senator asked Robeson that if he liked the USSR so much, why didn't he stay there? Robeson replied "Because my father was a slave, and my people died to build this country, and I am going to stay right here and have a part of it just like you. And no fascist-minded people will drive me from it. Is that clear?" For daring to stand up to these fascists on Capitol Hill, Robeson paid dearly. His stand only brought the wrath of the US government down on Robeson. In 1950, the State Department revoked his passport, thus ensuring that he would not be able to travel abroad and speak or sing to international audiences. Although Paul Robeson broke no laws and was not charged with any crime, he was now officially blacklisted as a Communist and could no longer find work here in the United States (not to mention that after the Peekskill riots, most venues wouldn’t dream of hosting him with the exception of several Black churches, who certainly understood his persecution well). Worse however, he could not leave the country for any reason even though he was an international celebrity and earned much of his income by performing abroad. His travel restrictions included places that it was not necessary to have a passport to travel to, like Canada or Mexico. For speaking out against the growing wave of American fascism, he became a prisoner in a hostile nation- his own. This still didn't deter Robeson from getting his message, and his plight, heard. In London, people filled an auditorium to hear Robeson sing over the telephone from the United States. In Canada, a labor union organized a concert in the hopes that Robeson would be allowed to cross the border. After he was turned away by border guards, the concert was moved to the Canadian border and he sang from across the border, again by telephone. Then in 1958, Paul Robeson wrote his autobiography Here I Stand. In the book, Robeson talks of his life, racism, his country, and his belief in a better world. He also answers his critics. After 8 years, he would not yield one bit to the "fascist-minded people" that took away his livelihood and freedom. When talking about his strong belief in equality for everyone he said that the people cannot wait any longer. "The Time is Now," said Robeson. Though his book was almost completely ignored by the mainstream white press, the black press almost unanimously came to Robeson's side. Within 4 months after the publication of Here I Stand, Paul Robeson was given his passport back, which he used almost immediately to travel to leave the US and go the Soviet Union and other countries in the Eastern Bloc. He was greeted as a hero and spent the next several years traveling in the Soviet satellite countries and much of Africa. To this day there are streets and buildings named after him. Even a stamp in East Germany was made in his honor. In the mid sixties, after 7 years abroad, he returned home to the United States in ill health. For much of the late sixties and early seventies his health deteriorated and he became very depressed over his current situation and the lingering feeling of betrayal by his government. Still, during this time he continued to receive awards and honorary degrees from all over the world until his final days. Paul Robeson died on January 23, 1976 at the age of 77 in Philadelphia, where his home is now a museum dedicated to his life. Robeson ends his book Here I Stand with the closing lines of a poem by Pablo Neruda called Let the Rail-Splitter Awake which go as follows: Let us think of the entire earth and pound the table with love. I don't want blood again to saturate bread, beans, music: I wish they would come with me: the miner, the little girl, the lawyer, the seaman, the doll-maker, to go to a movie and come out to drink the reddest wine... I came here to sing and for you to sing with me. |